This debut novel from the author of The Shell Collector centers on an Alaskan man who throughout his life has been able to glimpse scenes from his future. When he foresees the death of his daughter, he abandons his wife and child and moves to a Caribbean island, hoping to avert her fate.
Critic Reviews
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Outstanding
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The Independent Peter Carty
Towards the end Doerr's descriptive powers flag a little, but overall this is a formidable literary achievement that, like Winkler's snow crystals, integrates facets and dimensions into a near-perfect whole.
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Outstanding
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The Spectator Robert Edric
Winkler’s own calculations, wonder and puzzled awe are matched perfectly by Doerr’s prose, a straightforward narration and style finely tuned to its purpose, compelling, balanced and anchored to the solid ground of the story being told; and yet with a finesse, flair and precision equally suited to its grander themes and to the heart and soul of the man at their centre.
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Favorable
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The Guardian Rachel Hore
Winkler's dreams are never allowed to overwhelm this moving, compassionate novel, but instead offer myriad opportunities for reflection on memory, the value of the present moment, the inspiration of hope.
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Favorable
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Entertainment Weekly Nicholas Fonseca
Doerr nearly drowns beneath an annoying surfeit of drippy water metaphors, but About Grace remains grounded because he keeps a steady grasp on Winkler's roiling emotions, never allowing the reluctant antihero to become a simpering, aimless fool.
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Favorable
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Library Journal Starr E. Smith
With clear, precise writing, Doerr creates cinematic images of gorgeous landscapes and of the highly individualistic characters who populate David's circle of acquaintances in this unusual tale. [15 Oct 2004, p.53]
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Favorable
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Washington Post Margot Livesey
A beautiful and expansive novel.
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Mixed
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Daily Telegraph Claire Messud
And the rhythms of Doerr's gorgeous writing, so suited to the short-story form, can, over 400 pages, feel contrived and precious.
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Mixed
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Los Angeles Times Mark Rozzo
An extended meditation on the tides and eddies of life
itself, spun out in sentences that never fail to thrill, amaze or edify. [3 Oct 2004, p.R10]
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Mixed
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Daily Telegraph Matthew Alexander
The central narrative device (Winkler's random clairvoyance) pushes the bounds of plausibility to the point of discomfort in the context of the novel.
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Unfavorable
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San Francisco Chronicle Dan Zigmond
Despite the initially captivating material, the novel quickly bogs down, and much of it seems deeply, frustratingly improbable.
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Unfavorable
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The New York Times Book Review Neel Mukherjee
Doerr's interest in nature is so obsessive that the whole equation of man in nature becomes heavily skewed in favor of the latter, producing fiction of rapturous beauty but of an oddly cold, uninvolving nature, as if it were embalmed in its own lustrous style.
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Unfavorable
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Kirkus Reviews
It's much too long, and is significantly marred by its climactic momentum toward a reconciliation that simply isn't very credible.
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Unfavorable
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Publishers Weekly
There are gorgeous moments here, but a stifling lack of story.
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